Expedia.com Soars to Success in Singapore With YouTube’s TrueView

Savvy digital advertisers in APAC are bridging the gap between performance/direct response marketing and branding campaigns. Now that metrics can be tracked across all channels, online players like Expedia.com are seeing the value and possibilities in strengthening their brands while driving clicks and sales. Expedia’s recent YouTube campaign in Singapore led to increases in brand awareness, purchase intent, and shoppers.

GOALS

Boost brand awareness in Singapore

Boost purchase intent in Singapore

APPROACH

Created a video ad campaign with YouTube’s TrueView

Used in-market targeting and remarketing

RESULTS

Nearly 15% lift in brand awareness

Nearly 15% lift in purchase intent

Over 25% lift in number of shoppers

Expedia offers travelers a wide selection of hotels, flights, activities, and travel services at attractive rates. With hundreds of thousands of hotel partners worldwide and comprehensive choices of flight rates and availabilities readily available on Expedia, travelers can find everything they need for their travels.

The global brand wanted to make a splash with its offering in Singapore; the challenge was finding a platform and a campaign that could raise both awareness and purchase intent—no small feat.

Reaching Singaporeans far and wide with YouTube’s TrueView

After reviewing its media options, the team at Expedia landed on YouTube’s TrueView as the best platform to reach a large audience and move the needle on brand metrics in Singapore. Not only is YouTube’s reach comparable to TV’s in Singapore’s,1 its in-market targeting parameters overlapped nicely with Expedia’s target audience.

YouTube is a great platform for brands in Singapore. We increased our reach significantly, and we drove some of our highest business results for a media campaign so far by adding YouTube to the mix.

To make the most of the platform, Expedia decided to partner with a popular TV and YouTube personality in Singapore: Wang Lei Liang. “What a better way for a brand to resonate with a local audience than to target them where they hang out? At Expedia, we did that with YouTube, using a campaign featuring Wang Wei Liang, a well-known local celebrity, and the results were beyond our expectations,” said Kevin Olliver, Expedia brand’s APAC creative director.

Thanks to his appearances in Jack Neo’s movies, Liang appeals to Singaporeans of all ages and from all walks of life. Expedia saw King as a cheeky, fun, and down-to-earth character and they collaborated to create a series of funny and attention-grabbing ads.

Confident in the platform and the creative, Expedia decided to debut the first two weeks of the campaign exclusively on YouTube.

“YouTube is a great platform for brands in Singapore. We increased our reach significantly and we drove some of our highest business results for a media campaign so far by adding YouTube to the mix,” said Simon Fiquet, managing director of Expedia Southeast Asia and India.

Brand metrics were just the half of it. The campaign’s 1.73M unique views also led to uplifts in branded searches (over 50%) and huge uplifts in business metrics, including an over 25% lift in shoppers.

YouTube was a rousing success across the board for Expedia in Singapore, and the brand now sees YouTube as a proven viable option for achieving awareness and performance goals at the same time.